Every year, the Actors' Equity Foundation acts on behalf of the Equity community to award grants to theatres across the country. There are ways that you can get involved to show your support for the performing arts, and demonstrate that we can all contribute to build a stronger industry.
Actors' Equity Association established the Actors' Equity Foundation in 1962 to help members in ways the union legally could not, given that labor law sets strict parameters for how unions use their money. The Foundation, on the other hand, is a 501(c)3 and can act as a non-profit that supports the interests of union members in broader ways. Its first (and for decades, only) initiative was grants, donating money to non-profit institutions around the country.
Grant applications are open each year from September 1 to October 30. Then, three committees of Equity members (one for each region) sit down with Foundation staff to determine how to allocate the money, which is distributed in the first quarter of the coming year. (The money is budgeted based on workweeks a Region generates for Equity.) Some grants go to large, established theatres like Yale Rep and The Public Theater, but many of them go to new or small organizations in communities with fewer live arts offerings.
Foundation grant money comes from donations, and it took the Foundation a lot of time to build up an endowment. In the early days, it donated to maybe a dozen theatres a year. Now that number is over 150. The grant amounts are still modest, but impactful. For even established grant recipients, the money connects them more strongly to Equity members when they receive aid from an institution that reflects the values of the artists they also employ. It also reminds them that Equity artists believe their status as union members and dedication to a healthier industry are deeply entwined.
"Every dollar helps every institution, regardless of its size," says Actors' Equity Foundation President Judy Rice.
To the fledgling companies that receive funds, several hundred dollars can make a big difference to a season. For a small theatre, a Foundation grant could mean being able to afford one additional cast member or stage manager on their next production. That said, the Foundation makes it a point to not attach strings to the funds it awards, and theatres can use the money however they think best.
These days, the Foundation has expanded its capabilities, hiring Managing Director Joan Glazer ten years ago as its first-ever fulltime staff member. Its offerings are broader too, including career-development workshops for actors and stage managers, but grants are still their major activity. To that end, they are cultivating a legacy program, where members can leave money to the Foundation in their wills and help build up the organization's endowment.
In the meantime, the Foundation always welcomes donations large and small that they can pay forward to theatre makers across the U.S.
"Help us help you!" said Rice.
As of the beginning of October, it is also not too late to join one of the committees to award the grants. If you have broad knowledge of non-profit theatres in your region, email Joan Glazer at jglazer@actorsequityfoundation.org.